Six New Associates Join Firm

McAfee & Taft, the state’s largest law firm, has announced that recent law school honor graduates Trent O. Bridges, Rachel Kirk Evans, Ryan L. Lobato, Andrew S. Long, Kristin M. Simpsen and Joshua W. Solberg have joined the firm as associates.  The addition of the six new attorneys brings the firm’s lawyer count to 146.

Trent O. Bridges is a transactional lawyer whose practice encompasses corporate and securities matters and a broad range of business transactions.  While at the University of Tulsa College of Law, Bridges served as editor-in-chief of the Tulsa Law Review and was the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships including multiple CALI Awards.  He graduated with highest honors and was named to the Order of the Curule Chair.

Prior to entering law school, Bridges was a business development manager with Boise Cascade Corporation for five years.

Rachel Kirk Evans is a transactional attorney whose practice is concentrated in business and commercial transactions, oil and gas, corporate and securities, and real estate law.  The 2008 University of Oklahoma College of Law honors graduate served as the assistant managing editor for the Oklahoma Law Review and is the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships including the Nathalie Pierrepont Comfort Scholarship and the John B. Cheadle Award for Outstanding Service to the College of Law.  Evans was also a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society and Phi Delta Phi legal honor fraternity and was co-founder and vice president of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators OU Student Chapter.  She currently donates her time to the Junior League of Oklahoma City and the Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club.

Ryan L. Lobato’s practice encompasses all areas of intellectual property, including trademarks, copyrights, patents, software and computer law, internet law, unfair competition and trade secrets. He is an honors graduate from the University of Notre Dame Law School. Prior to embarking on a legal career, Lobato attended the U.S. Naval Academy, earning his degree in computer science with an emphasis in network architecture, and served on active duty for six years as an officer in the U.S. Navy onboard nuclear fast attack submarines.  During his service, he was officially certified by the Department of Naval Reactors as a nuclear engineer.  Due to his extensive training, Lobato has intimate knowledge of mechanical systems and fundamental engineering principles, hydrodynamics, acoustics, thermodynamics, electrical engineering, chemistry and atomic physics.

Andrew S. Long is a trial lawyer whose practice is concentrated in the areas of labor and employment law, insurance litigation and mass torts litigation.  While attending the University of Oklahoma College of Law, the honors graduate and Comfort Scholar served as managing editor of the Oklahoma Law Review and was honored with the 2007 Outstanding Comment Award and Outstanding 2L Award.  In addition to receiving the George B. Fraser Scholarship and DeView Pierson Scholarship, Long earned numerous American Jurisprudence Awards.  Long also holds a B.S.B.A. in computer information systems and an M.A. in communication from the University of Arkansas.

Kristin M. Simpsen is a trial lawyer whose practice is concentrated in the area of labor and employment law, counseling and representing businesses in employment-related litigation involving all types of wrongful discharge claims, claims related to employment agreements and other disputes arising from the employer-employee relationship.  Simpsen is an honors graduate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law.  While earning her Juris Doctor, she was honored with the Nathalie Pierrepont Comfort Scholarship and earned multiple American Jurisprudence Awards.  She was also a member of the Oklahoma Law Review.

Joshua W. Solberg is a trial lawyer who counsels and represents businesses in all areas of labor and employment law, including litigation matters involving all types of wrongful discharge claims, claims related to employment agreements, and other disputes arising from the employer-employee relationship.  An honors graduate from the University of Tulsa College of Law, Solberg was named to Order of the Curule Chair, served as editor of the Tulsa Law Review and was a member of the Phi Delta Phi legal honor fraternity.  He is also the recipient of numerous awards including nine CALI awards for academic excellence.

McAfee & Taft serves clients throughout the region and nationally in the areas of aviation, business law, corporate and securities, employee benefits, entertainment law, environmental law, healthcare, intellectual property, labor and employment, litigation, oil and gas, real estate and tax and family wealth.  The firm employs over 270 Oklahomans, including more than 145 attorneys, and has offices in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa.